Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.
We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Wednesday, Aug. 16. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.
Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We begin in Class 2A Division II with the Albany Lions. On Thursday, we will take a look at the Cross Plains Buffaloes, followed by the Hamlin Pied Pipers on Friday.
ALBANY LIONS
LAST YEAR’S RECORD
- 14-2 overall, 5-0 in District 6-2A Division II
ONE KEY STAT
- Albany’s state championship in 2022 marked the third in program history and the first for longtime coach Denney Faith.
TWO NAMES TO KNOW
- Senior RB Adam Hill (Rushed for 1,526 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2022)
- Senior DB Wyatt Windham (Had 140 tackles, five interceptions and 11 pass breakups in 2022)
THREE BURNING QUESTIONS
- Is senior quarterback Lute Wheeler ready to replace the leadership and production lost with the graduation Cole Chapman?
- After the Lions graduated four of their seven leading tacklers, who will step up this year at the linebacker position?
- Other than Cason Fairchild, who had 33 catches for 489 yards and four touchdowns last season, who will emerge as a weapon at the receiver position?
DON’T MISS BIG COUNTRY PREPS PRESEASON FOOTBALL PREVIEW ON AUG. 16!